Released by Strahan & Co, London, in 1871 after At the Back of the North Wind, MacDonald’s first realistic “young readers” novel follows the boyhood adventures of Ranald Bannerman up to the moment in his teens when he realizes that he is “not a man.” Thus begins his growth into true manhood.
MacDonald’s editorship of the highly popular magazine Good Words for the Young in the late 1860s and early 1870s resulted in five young-reader stories, starting with At the Back of the North Wind, and continuing with Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood and The Princess and the Goblin in succession.
Set in and around MacDonald's Scottish hometown of Huntly, many of young Ranald’s escapades, as in most of MacDonald’s Scots stories, are autobiographical. Ranald Bannerman fictionally presents the lighter, occasionally mischievous, side of MacDonald's boyhood.
(Source: The Cullen Collection)
No Scots dialogue
“Everybody has a different kind of tune in his life, and no one can find out another’s tune for him, though he may help him to find it for himself.”
Recommended Editions and Adaptations
The Cullen Collection Edition: paperback and kindle
Hardcover Edition:
From Johannesen Printing & Publishing
Young Reader’s Edition, edited by Michael Phillips:
The Adventures of Ranald Bannerman, George MacDonald Classics for Young Readers
Articles about Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood
Various Sources
“Ranald Bannerman: The Hero as ‘Real’ Boy”, by Rachel Johnson
NORTH WIND ARCHIVE
The home page of the North Wind Archive can be accessed here.
“George MacDonald’s Boyhood in Huntly”, by Sir Edward Troup
WINGFOLD
Wingfold is a quarterly magazine that restores material by and about George MacDonald, in print since 1993. To subscribe, click here. To request any of the following articles that appear in back issues of Wingfold, contact Barbara Amell at b_amell@q.com.
Spring 2000
“1871 Review”, by Barbara Amell